Now, 350 years on, speculation is still rife about what actually happened looking at the scapegoats and skulduggery that played a part in the Great Fire of London.

Looking down the following list you get the sense that we haven’t changed much in who we blame for society’s ills – Europe, immigrants, the poor, mentally ill, the Establishment and the gluttonous.

Did the Freemasons do it?

Alamy

Naturally, modern day conspiracy theorists still take an interest – and one of their more crazed theories is that the fire was the work of the Freemasons.

The ‘evidence’ is that Christopher Wren – who helped rebuild London – was a Mason, and therefore, suspicious.

Conspiracy fans Project Avalon say, ‘Within weeks, the mysterious cabal now known as the Freemasons began the planning and construction of the destroyed district. Sir Christopher Wren, a renowned architect and one of the founding English Masons, was awarded the privilege of rebuilding St. Paul’s. The Masons were not suspected of a crime, although Christopher Wren and his compatriot Sir Isaac Newton were experts in the areas of chemistry, physics, optics, and methods of combustion.